The last week and a bit has probably we have probably been the luckiest week anyone's had ever! We set off from Cairns wanting to see all the weird animals Australia has to offer in the wild and have seen everything we hoped and more. To name but a few we've seen a cassowary (very endangered emu like bird), a humpback whale and calf, koala's with babies, kangaroos, rock wallabies and a duck-billed platypus; and all in the wild. You're lucky to even see a deer in England in the wild so it has been fantastic. We left Cairns and headed to the Atherton Tablelands, which are the mountians just south of Cairns. It's a big area with so much to see and do. We did a big loop, starting with seeing the Barron Gorge and waterfalls. The waterfalls themselves were good, but it was more the view that was spectacular- huge crators with green pools at the bottom of sheer rock faces. Along with the volcanoes one of the best things I've seen- like a postcard picture. We then went to Granite Gorge on a whim, and were so glad we did as got to hand feed wild rock wallabies that gather there. There were loads of them hopping around. There are some cute photos of them with babies in their puoches. Had a really funny moment like a scene out of a true aussie horror flick that night. We decided to drive through the outback for awhile in the hope of seeing some roos (which we did) and to see the red soil and giant termite mounds. It gets dark early here (about 6.30). We were driving and had nothing to do after dark when we saw a sign in the middle of no-where saying 'aussie bush pub'. Thinking a drink might be a good idea we parked up at the bottom of a dirt track and started walking towards where the sign pointed in the pitch black. After a few hundred metres heard a growl- then two dogs barking visciously started running towards us- very scary since we couldn't see them could only hear them. I was absolutely terrified. A man came out this hut with a torch and called the dogs off and informed us that further on was a BYO pub- no use since we did not have our own alcohol- not sure how a BYO pub makes money either! Honestly thought I was going to be mauled to death in the bush and no-one would ever find us or know what happened to us- very wolf creak. Even Krys admitted afterwards he had been a little scared, although denies it now! Next day we stopped at a little town called yungabura (or something like that) where we walked along a river and saw a playpus- the oddest looking creature ever and again, we were really lucky to see one. Unfortunately it saw us and disappeared, but at least we got to see it. I randomly read about a place called the 'crator'- not very imaginately named- and realised it was a place I had seen in a rough guide Lou and Laura bought me 3 years ago, and which I have with me, when I kept going on about wanting to travel to Oz. I had looked at the photo back then and thought how much I'd like to go so we went. Was a really beautiful deep crator, and very weird standing there after seeing all that time ago- cheers L and L! Lastly we drove to the south and did the waterfall circuit, seeing some of the best waterfalls in Oz. Krys was ill and shivering even though it was hot so didnt spend long there. Overall the atherton tablelands has been one of the best places we've been on the whole trip, and that we didnt expect it to be made it even better. We then drove onto Mission Beach, which is really just a beach so not much to say, except we were told there were wild cassowarys there but that we'd be lucky to spot one as they are rare and have been affected by cyclone Larry which hit the area hard earlier in the year. Being fluky though we spotted one by the side of the road as we were driving and stopeed to watch it for a while- wierd bird! Glad to be in the car as apparently they attack people sometimes. Driving on from Mission Beach we went to Townsville and Magnetic Island. Townsville was a nice town, again with a free laggon style swimming pool to laze around. We then got the ferry to Magnetic Island (so named cos Captain Cook's compass went funny when he sailed past apparently). On the way over we saw a Minki whale in the distance- again amazing. Did a bit of only OK snorkelling and then went on a forest walk as we'd been told in the late afternoon you can spot wild Koalas. Walked forawhile and thought our luck had run out, then found a Koals up a tree, with a baby in her pouch. They are the cutest little furry things in the world. We saw about 4 adult Koals and 3 babies in total, some quite low down and close. There are a couple of realy good photos of babies on their mothers's backs, but you'll have to zoom in on them to see I think as some of the Koalas were high up. After Magnetic Island we drove to Bowen- nice little beach town and on to Airlie beach- the starting point for sailing in the Whitsunday Islands. The weatehr was beautiful as we set out on our 3 day cruise of the islands on the Matador Sailing yacht. Did a dive around Hayman Island, snorkelling, went to Whitehaven beach (rated as one of the best beaches in Oz) and on a bush walk to our highlight of the trip which was a view over a place called Hill Inlet. It is another photo in my rough guide I'd wanted to visit and didn't disappoint. Can't put it into worlds- look at the photos, although they dont do it justice. White sand swills in the bay due to the tides and the water is turquise, leaving big swirling patterns visable from the viewpoint. The water was so clear you could even see the stingrays swimming about from above. We walked down to the bay and in the shallow water there were baby sharks about 2 feet long and stingrays swimming around us. We were very sad to return to shore and had met some lovely people on the trip. We also saw a few humpback whales. One had a calf and seemed to be teaching it all her tricks, including leaping out the water, splashing with her tail and smacking the water with her giant fins. Haven't put the photo on yet but we will, again you'll have to zoon right it to see it! We are now in Yeppon and heading down on towards Brisbane today. We're getting to grips with new Aussie words, including schooner, skul, esky and stubbie, 3 of which refer to alcohol and one to how to keep it cold- think we need to broaden our aussie word horizon! Phew- it's been a long entry again! James- no sarcastic replies to that thanks! Hope the lovely summer in England is continuing and all's well. Lots of love, Toni and Krys x